Category: The DayBook

There has been a “great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.”

I hope I am wrong about how bad this is going to be. I hope my apolitical friends who say it doesn’t matter who wins are right. 

I feel like I have been run over by a small truck. I fear that I’ll not live long enough to see this fixed. We survived, just barely, Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. We survived Warren G. Harding – maybe Florence really did kill him. I always hoped that urban legend was true. But can we survive this one. In 71 days – he gets the keys to the nukes. WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU VOTED? 

Just remember, boys and girls, that Secretary Clinton won the popular vote. The majority does not rule – but it is right. 

I hope that today ends well. Really. 

Thank you Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Went out with my friend Billy this morning. But first we fortified ourselves with bacon, eggs and kona coffee. Lots of kona coffee. Whatever happened to Mom’s old “No Swimming for 2 hours after you eat?” 

Finally, after 50 minutes – we head back and – when we are in a foot of water – a big old flounder comes swimming by – these boys are masters of disguise. 

I am working hard at getting my life back from the Energizer Bunny. On the reading front… I am reading “Inferno” by Dan Brown for fun and I just started “Kamehameha III: He Mo’olelo no ka Mo’i Lokomaika’i” by P. Christiaan Klieger. This is a dead tree book and it has footnotes. Also the author is overly fond of his vocabulary. Nevertheless – Kamehameha III was an interesting dude – I’ll make it though 1/2 a chapter a day.

So, today… a little walk, a lot of breakfast, about an hour in the ocean, some yoga, zen sitting for awhile, now back to reading – “Inferno” – and lounging around. Maybe I’ll even worry about the election. Or wonder if the surf will come up tonight. Surf trumps the presidential election any day here in Hawai’i Nei.

Swam out to my favorite snorkeling spot this morning. First time this trip. Took the crappy $99 camera along. 

And one of the first fish that come swimming by is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a or reef trigger fish. 

Who says I don’t shoot people? How about some guys. Guys always have better gear. 

They seem friendly. 

On the other hand this is not friendly – The Donald Trump of the Reef – crown of thorns starfish. 

Rice, broccoli, tomato and some chicken was lunch. I had leftovers – so, I put them all in a bowl and added some cheese. Tomorrow, I can nuke that for dinner. Tonight – chicken, avocado and pear salad is on tap. That will about finish off 1/2 a really scrawny chicken. Also, finishes off the pears that the hotel gave me upon my arrival – one week ago this evening. 

The fisherpeople are out in force. And the old cars (with the associated old owners) show up for breakfast downstairs.

Carlton has been dead for 2 years, 1 month and 2 days. And for two additional years I knew that his days were seriously limited. 

I dealt with all of that by going into “Energizer Bunny” mode. I have written before about my inability to read. I am a person who used to read everything. If I had nothing to read – I would read the oatmeal box. When Carlton got sick – I stopped reading. I have tried to restart my reading with little or no success. 

Well, I am going to start reading again. Somehow or the other. I decided the only way to make it happen is to set a timer “Hey Carlton, set timer for 30 minutes” and then just read until the timer goes off. I did that twice today. 

I am trying to get out of “Energizer Bunny” mode. And to return to being my normal sloth-like self.

More about Glasgow Montana…

I took this picture out of the train window 4 1/2 years ago. It warrants a 24 hour stopover. (My travel to-do list seems to be expanding.)

 

 

Another lazy day. I did wash all the rather smelly black clothes that I wore on the way to Kona. 

How about a couple of nice bug photos. Taken with the 34mm lens. 

These are very impressive spiders. The female is huge. Maybe 3 inches. They are not poisonous to humans and eat lots of bugs. They do bite if disturbed. So, they don’t make good pets. And they are not native to Hawai’i. But, they seem to be very happy here. And, they make splendid webs.

As the election gets closer, I get more and more concerned. How did this happen? There doesn’t seem to be much concern here in exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. 

If the nation survives – next time I take the Empire Builder, I intend to get off in Glasgow, Montana. Both times, I have looked out the train window and wanted to get off for a looksee. 

After doing just a few “chores”, I decided that I was “tired” and I took the rest of the day off. 

I did take a couple of pictures. Using my cheap long lens and monopod. I am not really happy with the long lens. And, I have never used a monopod. A new friend gave me her dear hubby’s monopod. So, I mailed the long lens and monopod to Kona. And just maybe – the monopod will help the long lens. I really am too old, weak and shaky to handhold 600mm. 

Started cataloging and culling the photos from my train trip. I have lots from the Chihuly Museum.

This was taken with my 34mm prime lens. 

Wednesday is “Boat Day” in exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. And, this is “my” view. 

Last winter before I went to Samoa, I bought a $99 underwater camera. It is barely adequate.  But, I took it swimming with me this morning. And, another view of the bay. I was swimming “laps”. And…

I love the ocean. No matter how old, creaky and tired I feel when I get in – I am always better when I get out. 

Getting my “kitchen” in order. I have English muffins, eggs, peanut butter and salsa on the shelf. This will suffice for any meal. Not to mention I am well supplied with star fruit and avocado. 

First meal from the “kitchen”… eggs, salsa and avocado

I nuked these eggs 90 seconds. I think that 75 seconds will make a better product.

It got cloudy this afternoon – normal trade winds behavior. And the ship just blew the leaving soon honk.

As I suspected, absolutely zero interest in national politics here. Either way, we are screwed. But, out here in the middle of the ocean, it won’t much matter.  

Oh, and tonight’s dinner – I received gift pears and avocado – so, I had pear and avocado salad for dinner. I dined out on my lanai. 

So, what did I do today? Very Little.

• Went for a walk with my good buddy, Billy.
• Then went to Denny’s for “Senior Special” breakfast with Billy. Great views. Interesting local characters. Good theater.
• Billy left me at Target – where I loaded up with shampoo, Tide, etc… your basic bath and laundry essentials.
• Walked home.
• Did some “organizing” and putting away.
• Went for a nice 30 minute swim.
• Rested and listened to an audiobook.
• Assembled and ate dinner. 
• That is it.

Still cloudy, trade windy weather. Some early whales have been seen, the kolea or golden plover are arriving from Alaska, and the first big north swell of the season is expected on Thursday. Winter is settling in.

Got up and went out this morning. Then, I unpacked everything. The operative word here is “UNPACKED”. Not to be confused with “PUT AWAY”. 

Also got enough food for today. But, no food for tomorrow. 

Went for a little swim and a little walk. And I did a little visiting. And, I had a big nap. 

The town is empty. And, it was cloudy today. Empty and cloudy are good. 

Made it to the hotel a little before seven. Greeted with lei, flowers, and 3 fine pears. 

I have stuff to rearrange, stuff to unpack, stuff to organize and food to buy. But all that is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

No picture here. Just entered the Cascade Tunnel, it takes about seven minutes to transit. We had a wait on a siding before entering the tunnel, and I craftily used that time to brush teeth and get packed up.

Sad to be finished with the train part of the trip. It has been great. The best way to travel. Thank you, taxpayers of America.

Notes to self

1. The raincoat is a good choice. It covers all the travel weary clothes and it is black. So. I look sufficiently urban.
2. For Amtrak travel, the backpack and little rolling bag work fine and fit in the sleeping coffin nicely.

Here we are, out of the tunnel. But, no connectivity. I’ll queue this up to go, whenever.

8PM – Seattle

I am one tired old woman tonight. The train arrived at about 10AM. It was raining but Google said that my hotel was only 1.3 miles away. So, off I go. Well, Google didn’t say it was 1.3 miles uphill.

My hotel let me in my room when I arrived, a good 4 hours ahead of check in time. Heck, it was even before checkout time for Friday night. I took a nice long hot shower and was about to blow off my trip to the Chihuly Museum. It was raining. I was tired. But, I discovered that the Monorail from the 1962 World’s Fair was still operational and it was 4 (seriously uphill) blocks from my hotel. So, off I go. And, it stopped raining.

The exhibit was wonderful. No crowds. Now waiting. And, I had a fine lunch. Then back on the monorail. Back to the hotel. And out again to checkout the neighborhood.

I found the original Starbucks. I did not set inside. The line was too long. Maybe early tomorrow morning. While I was out I picked up some yogurt and a scone for dinner. I could tell that going out to dinner was more than I was up too. So, I head back to the hotel.

Snagged a coffee from the lobby and went up on the roof to await sunset.

I did not go to Nordstrom’s. I did not buy a fish at the fish market. I met two people on the roof who had bought fish that they were having shipped home to Houston and Atlanta. My compliments to the salesman at the city fish market, across the street from the hotel.

So, I am tired. Leaving for the airport at 1PM tomorrow. Wonder what will be open early on Sunday morning?